Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) represents a major change for local authorities across England. For children’s social care, successful implementation will require more than creating new organisational structures. Councils also need to consider how systems, data, processes and technology will support children’s services in the new authority.
As councils prepare for LGR, one question should be high on the agenda: Are your children’s social care systems ready?
At Consulting Partners, we support organisations across social care, health and education with service transformation, business process improvement and system implementation. Our experience helps councils make sure technology supports effective social care practice.
Why LGR Matters for Children’s Social Care
When councils reorganise, children’s services may need to bring together different approaches to:
- Early help
- Children’s social care
- Safeguarding
- Child protection
- Assessments
- Care planning
- Looked-after children
- Leaving care
- Placements
- Reviews
- Performance management
Each existing authority may have developed different processes and ways of working.
Even where councils use the same technology, system configurations can be very different.
This creates an important challenge for the new authority:
What should the future children’s social care service look like, and how should the system support it?
Don’t Simply Replicate Existing Processes
LGR provides an opportunity to review the way children’s services operate.
If several authorities have different processes for achieving the same outcome, the answer is not necessarily to retain all of them.
Councils can use LGR to identify opportunities to:
- Simplify processes
- Reduce duplication
- Improve workflows
- Improve recording
- Automate manual tasks
- Improve data quality
- Standardise processes where appropriate
- Improve management information
This is why service transformation should sit alongside system implementation.
Technology should support good social care practice rather than create additional administrative work for practitioners.
Children’s Social Care Data Migration
Data migration is likely to be one of the major challenges associated with LGR.
Children’s social care systems contain sensitive and complex information relating to children, young people and families.
Councils need to consider:
- What information needs to be migrated?
- How accurate is the existing data?
- Are there duplicate records?
- How should records from different authorities be matched?
- How will historical information be accessed?
- How will migrated cases be validated?
- How will continuity of service be protected?
These questions should be addressed early.
Data migration isn’t simply about moving records from one database to another.
It is about ensuring that practitioners have access to the right information when they need it.
System Implementation and Configuration
Once the future service model has been established, councils need to ensure that their systems are configured appropriately.
This could include reviewing:
- Case workflows
- Forms
- Assessments
- User roles
- Business rules
- Notifications
- Recording requirements
- Reports
- Management information
- Interfaces with other systems
For councils using systems such as Liquidlogic LCS or EHM, LGR may provide an opportunity to review existing configurations and determine how they should be developed for the new authority.
User Acceptance Testing
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is a critical part of children’s social care system implementation.
Testing should reflect the real work undertaken by social workers and other professionals.
Rather than testing individual screens in isolation, councils should test complete journeys.
For example:
Referral → Assessment → Decision → Safeguarding → Plan → Review
This helps identify problems with workflows, permissions, data and processes before they affect frontline staff.
Practitioners should play an important role in UAT because they understand how the system needs to work in practice.
LGR and Children’s Social Care Reform
LGR is also taking place alongside wider changes to children’s social care.
This makes it even more important for councils to consider the future rather than simply reproduce existing arrangements.
A new authority has an opportunity to consider how its systems can support improved practice, better information and more effective service delivery.
The objective should be to build a system and operating model that supports the needs of children, families, practitioners and managers.
How Consulting Partners Can Help With LGR
Consulting Partners specialises in supporting organisations across social care, health and education with service transformation and system implementation.
Our experience includes:
- Children’s social care
- Service transformation
- Business process redesign
- Automation
- System implementation
- System configuration
- User Acceptance Testing
- System health checks
- Liquidlogic LCS
- EHM
- Data and process improvement
For councils preparing for LGR, our role can be to provide practical support across the transformation and implementation journey.
Service Transformation
Helping understand current processes and design the future operating model.
Business Process Improvement
Identifying opportunities to simplify, standardise and automate processes.
System Configuration
Aligning the system with the future service and practice model.
User Acceptance Testing
Testing systems using realistic children’s social care scenarios.
System Health Checks
Identifying existing system issues before a major transition.
Implementation Support
Helping councils plan and deliver system changes effectively.
Preparing Your Children’s Social Care Systems for LGR
If your authority is preparing for LGR, consider starting with a structured assessment of your current position.
Ask:
- What systems are currently being used?
- How are they configured?
- Where do existing processes differ?
- What is the quality of the data?
- What should the future operating model look like?
- What data needs to be migrated?
- Which processes should be standardised?
- How will the new system be tested?
- How will service continuity be maintained?
These questions can help identify risks and opportunities before the implementation programme becomes time critical.
Make LGR an Opportunity for Better Children’s Services
Local Government Reorganisation presents significant challenges for children’s social care.
But it also creates an opportunity to step back and ask whether existing systems and processes are delivering what practitioners and families need.
The objective shouldn’t simply be to create a new authority with the same processes and systems.
It should be to create a children’s social care service that is:
- Efficient.
- Consistent.
- Well supported by technology.
- Based on good-quality information.
- Designed around effective social care practice.
Consulting Partners can help you make that transition.
If your council is preparing for LGR and needs support with children’s social care systems, service transformation, data migration, system configuration, UAT or system health checks, contact Consulting Partners to discuss your requirements.
Contact Consulting Partners to discuss your LGR programme.
